John 13 begins the telling of the last 24 hours before the crucifixion of Jesus. Jesus washed the disciples’ feet before the Passover meal, a task normally performed by the lowest servant. During the meal he announced his betrayal, and then he gave the disciples a new commandment “love one another”. He also predicted Simon Peter’s denial.
Genesis 38 tells the story of Judah and Tamar. One of the rules of the Old Testament is that if a man dies without producing an heir, it was the duty of his brother to try to produce an offspring to his widow. Onan shirked this responsibility, and that was the sin of Onan. Tamar was thus still barren, so she tricked Judah into committing adultery. You can read it for yourself. Judah finally confessed: “She is more righteous than I.”
Genesis 39 then picks up the story of Joseph and Potiphar’s wife. The story is a classic, and for doing the right thing Joseph was falsely accused and thrown in jail.
Psalm 7 is a shiggaion, a dithyrambic ode of David. I would love hearing how the music to this Psalm sounded.
The common thread in today’s selection is betrayal and renewal. Jesus washed all the disciples’ feet, making the betrayal complete. Onan refused to do the brother’s responsibility to produce an offspring for his dead brother, so he was too killed. Tamar took matters in her own hands and tricked Judah into doing his responsibility through adultery.
The story of the scarlet thread is also remarkable. When Tamar gave birth to twins only one hand came out, so she tied a scarlet thread around his wrist. Then the other baby came wholly out first, but the one with the scarlet thread was still considered the firstborn. This proves that if any part of the baby is outside the body the baby is born, and it means that partial birth abortion is murder.
Len Bilén's blog, a blog about faith, politics and the environment. 